Trustees press director over plan to share librarians at smaller campuses

A contentious portion of the board meeting focused on a district recommendation to redistribute librarian and library‑aide assignments across campuses.

Dr. Cynthia Castro, director of library services, said the proposal would use existing personnel to maximize student access without creating additional FTEs. "The recommendation that I did is not about reducing support, it is about creating a clear cost neutral structure so that students can continue to have access to library services," she told trustees.

Several trustees pushed back. Minerva Pena said she understood the proposal came from constrained resources but emphasized the central instructional role librarians play: "Every child to me is important...I would really like for those to be reconsidered and get every school a librarian," she said. Neida Ruth Grantland warned that cutting high‑school librarian positions could hurt College, Career and Military Readiness (CCMR) measures and urged exploration of an instructional "floater" to fill gaps.

Trustees and staff also discussed funding sources. Director J.J. DeLeon told the Board that librarian positions are funded through campus allocations (described in the meeting as "box money") and that shifting a librarian allocation back into campus box money would give campuses discretion over those dollars. Board members asked administration to confirm funding sources and how redistributions would be implemented; Dr. Castro said the plan was developed to avoid layoffs and to preserve services in a tight staffing environment.